Cleaning and feeding apparatus for match-making machines



Oct. 8, 1963 J. TISCH 3,106,291

CLEANING AND FEEDING APPARATUS FOR MATCH-MAKING MACHINES Filed April 27, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fly. 7-

/N VENTOP JOSEF T\SCH A TTOR/VE Y6 Oct. 8, 1963 J. TISCH 3,106,291

CLEANING AND FEEDING APPARATUS FOR MATCH-MAKING MACHINES Filed April 27, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOSEF TISCH BY M.

ATTORNEY Oct. 8, 1963 J. TISCH 3,105,291

CLEANING AND FEEDING APPARATUS FoR'MATcH-MAxmc MACHINES Filed April 27, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet s )rvvnv TOP JosEF T\SCH' ATTORNEYS J. TISCH Oct. 8, 1963 CLEANING AND FEEDING APPARATUS FOR MATCH-MAKING MACHINES 4; Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 27, 1959 INVENI'OR JOSEF nscn A TTOR/VEYS United. States Patent 3,106,291 CLEANING AND FEEDING APPARATUS FOR MATCH-MAKING MACHINES Josef Tisch, 11 Bredtschneiderstrasse, Berlin-Charlottenbnrg 9, Germany Filed Apr. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 809,118 13 Claims. (Cl. 209-83) This invention relates to cleaning and feeding apparatus for match-making machines.

Before the splints which constitute the starting material for the manufacture of matches are fed into the magazine which precedes the insertion device of a complete match-making machine, these splints must be cleaned or screened to remove undesirable specimens, for example, splints which are too short, transverse splints or the like. This is effected by means of cleaning machines in which the splints arrive, after the material has passed through the chopping machine, drier and polishing machine.

The device heretofore employed for such purposes are greatly in need of improvement, because to some extent they are very bulky units, are comparatively complicated in construction and manipulation, and above all do not permit automatic flow of the work, which would operate in the region of the insertion device without substantial disturbance. I 1

It is an object of the invention to simplify, accelerate and render automatic the advance of the working material to the magazine, the construction of the match-making machines being on the whole more compact and cheaper than heretofore.

This is achieved by the use of a cleaning and feeding apparatus consisting of a system of shaking conveyor troughs in which the preliminarily screened splints slide over longitudinally directed drop-through slots, the length of which is just less than half the normal length of the splints. The consequence of such an arrangement is that the material, preliminarily screened by means of a cleaning drum or the like, is freed reliably from all waste pieces, which for some reason or another are too short and therefore cannot be inserted by the insertion device into the plates, so that they remain in a disturbing manner in the region of the insertion channel plate, where they possibly cause damage. If a splint which is too short travels over one of the drop-through slots provided according to the invention, parallel to said slot, it tilts downwardly through this slot, that is to say, out of the conveyor trough, as soon as more than half its length projects in overhung fashion in the internal width of the slot.

To prevent all the splints from being fully sorted already on reaching the first drop-through slot, whereby a certain accumulation or obstruction would occur in the region of the slots the shaking conveyor troughs are provided in the conveying direction with a pluralityvof dropthrough slots one after another, the length of which gradually increases in the conveying direction up to the maximum permissible dimension of just less than half the length of the desired splints, so that the splints which are too short are screened groupwise in the conveyor troughs, and therefore a uniform distribution of the material occurs over the entire length of the troughs.

To. enhance the performance, it is furthermore indicated and is also advantageous to arrange the conveyor troughs in stages one above the other, so that their input ends open in staggered relationship in a feeding chute, to

.which the previously screened splints are supplied. The

machine can .thereby process the splints in loose arrangement and not lying one upon the other.

After the splints have been'sorted out in equal lengths and free from waste in the manner described, they must first be aligned in the sense of rendered parallel or unidirectional for introduction into the magazine of the insertion device. This is effected, according to the invention, by means of a shaking conveyor acting as a riflle, on which the splints travel automaticallyinto the magazine inlet. In this case, matters may be arranged so that either the conveyor troughs on which the too short splints are sorted out also constitute the aligning rifile, from which the splints enter the magazine, or a special shaking conveyor, constructed as an aligning riflie for the splints, follow the conveyor troughs.

Reference will now be had to the drawings, which show examples of the invention, and in which FIGURE 1 shows in side view that part of a complete match-making machine, in which the splints are introduced into the magazine in front of the insertion device.

FIGURE 2 shows a cleaning apparatus in perspective View.

FIGURES 3, 4, and 5 are diagrammatical longitudinal sections through the conveyor troughs of the cleaning apparatus.

FIGURE 6 is a cross-section through an aligning rifiie associated with a splint magazine.

FIGURES 7 and 8 are two enlarged portions of a cleaning drum, while FIGURE 9 shows diagrammatically in axial section the entire installation.

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of one effective arrangement of splint cleaning (sorting), aligning and delivery elements.

In FIGURE 1 of the drawings, 10 denotes in general form the guide track of a complete match-making machine, in which the carrier plates 11 for the splints move one after another. The plates which pass through the entire machine practically in the form of an endless belt, arrive at the commencement of the work at an insertion device, by means of which, with the aid of a push-beam 12 or a channel plate 13 fixed thereon, the splints are inserted in the plates from a jolting magazine 14.

The joltingmagazine is continued upwardly in a supply magazine 15, which in the example shown in the drawing is so arranged that it can be tilted forwardly about a horizontal pivot 16 to expose the jolting maga zine and the other parts of the insertion device for inspection or repair. 7

According to the invention, feeding of the supply magazine 15 is effected automatically by means of a sloping jolting device 17, which opens into the magazine 15 by means of a funnel-like attachment 18, and serves for straightening (i.e., aligning) the screened splints supplied to it. Feeding of the jolter is effected by way of a trunk 19 containing a screen 20, which is formed as an endless sagging belt or as a drum, and through which, while it is moved by means of a drive 21, the splints fall uniformly distributed into the jolter 17, the drive of which is shown at 22.

After the splints have traversed the usual preparatory stations, i.e., chopping machine, drier and polishing machine, they are first of all subjected to a sorting operation, all the splints which are shorter or thicker than the desired normal form being eliminated.

This sorting is effected by means of an apparatus as shown in FIGURE 2. A chute 23 of this apparatus is fed from a preliminary screening drum 24 and passes the splints dropping into it to a system of parallel troughs 25, mounted on a suitable support and subjected to a shaking movement by means of a device 26.

Along each trough is provided a plurality of longitudinally directed drop-through slots 27, the particular purpose of which may be gathered from FIGURES 3 to 5. The splints which fall through these slots, because they are unsuitable, are collected in a hopper-like housing 28a and are taken off in a suitable manner via duct 29 while the good splints which traverse the full length of the troughs 25 fall from the ends of the troughs into a hopper-like housing 28b and are then led off in a suitable manner via duct 30. The rejects thus are led off via duct 29 and the good splints via duct 30.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the individual slot 27 is made just shorter than half the length of a normal splint 31. In FIGURE 3, this length is denoted by X, while the length of the slot 27 is denoted by Y. If now a normal splint slides in the trough 25 over the slot 27, its front edge 32 will have already reached the edge 33 of the slot 27 before the centre 34 of the splint has reached the rear edge 35. The result of this is that by the effect of the jolting movements, the splint glides continuously over the slot 27. If, on the contrary, as indicated in FIGURE 3 on the right, the half-length Y of a splint 36 were less than the length X of a drop-through slot 37, this splint would tilt through this slot as soon as its centre had passed the rear edge 39 of the slot, and would thus be eliminated from the flow of normal splints.

FIGURE 4 indicates diagrammatically that the successive drop-through slots 40, 41, 42 and so forth of the individual conveying troughs are of different lengths, so that the length of these slots in the given sequence increases by small amounts, and consequently at first very short and then increasingly longer useless splints are eliminated. This results in a sorting operation which is free from disturbance and in limited loading of the individual drop-through slots.

FIGURE shows diagrammatically and by way of example the manner in which a plurality of conveyor troughs 43, 44, 45 with their associated bottom plates 46, 47, 48 are arranged in a number of stages one above the other, so that their rearward ends project stepwise into the chute 23.

As already indicated, a system of conveying troughs, as shown in FIGURES 2 to 5, may be used for example as both a flow conveyor and an aligning riflle for feeding the supply magazine of FIGURE 1, the system of troughs shown in FIGURE 2 coinciding with the unit 17 according to FIGURE 1. On the other hand, however, and as indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 10, matters could also be so arranged that the splints leaving the conveyor troughs 25 drop either directly or via a screen, as indicated substantially at 20 in FIGURE 1, on to a special aligning riftle 17 and conveyed further by the latter into the magazine 15'.

This latter possibility is shown in FIGURE 6 in the form of a vertical section. Here, corresponding to the reference numerals in FIGURE 1, reference 19 denotes the feeding chute, via which the screened splints pass to the straightening (i.e., aligning riflle 17', which is actuated by means of a drive 22', and thus allows the splints to slide forwardly on the rifile 17. At the end of the rifile is situated an outlet chamber 18', the somewhat tapered end of which projects into the magazine 15, thus ensuring orderly transfer of the splints to the magazine.

The front edge 49 confining the chamber 18' is raised above the level of the floor of the rifile to form a stop for limiting the desired quantities of splints which are to pass from the rifile 17 to the magazine 15', While the splints reaching the region of the stop in excess of the number receivable in the chamber 18 pass over the edge 49 through an overflow passage 50 to an overflow container. A separating wedge 51, situated above the chamber 18', projects into the region of the riflle 17', and

While the cleaning, aligning and feeding apparatus according to the invention affords considerable advantages and has an independent value even when not employed in combination with fully automatic feeding of the supply magazine, the arrangement shown in FIGURES 1 and 6 of an aligning and jolting riflie in front of the magazine, also independently of the particular type of cleaning apparatus described, is also a substantial improvement of the constructions known and used heretofore.

FIGURES 7 and 8 represent by way of example enlarged peripheral sections of the drum 24 shown in FIG- URE 2, having a wall thickness indicated by x. By the choice of this wall thickness with correspondingly dimensioned orifices 52, it is possible to retain thicker and bent splints. This is effected according to FIGURE 9 in such a manner that in the drum 24, fed by the duct 53 via an orifice 54, the screened bent splints 55 or the like are caught by the perforated drum wall in the lower half of its orbit and are carried along upwardly, whence they drop onto an outwardly leading trough 56.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for sorting elongated elements of uniform section and varying length, comprising an elongated structure receiving said elements and guiding them therealong in a given direction, said structure comprising an elongated trough having a series of at least three separate slots longitudinally aligned in and along the bottom thereof, said slots each having a width exceeding that of said elements, said slots progressively increasing in length in said direction with the last of them having a length just less than half the length of the desired ones of said elements, and means for moving said elements along sm'd trough so that the said desired ones of said elements traverse the entire length of said trough and those of said elements which are shorter than said desired ones drop progressively through said slots substantially in the order of their arrival at slots having lengths of more than half the respective lengths of said shorter elements.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, said structure comprising a multiplicity of said troughs arranged in parallel and side by side relationship.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, said moving means comprising means for vibrating said structure.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, said structure comprising a plurality of vertically spaced tiers arranged in parallel and each comprising a multiplicity of said troughs disposed in parallel and side by side relationship, and an upright chute for delivering said elements to said tiers at the input end of said structure, said tiers being staggered at said input end so that when said elements are dropped through said chute some of said elements are received on each of said tiers.

5. An apparatus for sorting elongated elements of uniform section and varying length, comprising an elongated structure receiving said elements and guiding them therealong in a given direction, said structure comprising an elongated trough having a series of at least three separate slots longitudinally aligned in and along the bottom thereof, said slots having a width exceeding that of said elements, said slots progressively increasing in length in said direction with the last of them having a length just less than half the length of the desired ones of said elements, and means for moving said elements along said trough so that the said desired ones of said elements traverse the entire length of said trough and those of said elements which are shorter than said desired ones drop progressively through said slots substantially in the order of their arrival at slots having lengths of more than half the respective lengths of said shorter elements, and means for supplying said elements to said structure, including a screen member adapted to receive a stream of said elements of random forms comprising straight elements and bent elements, said screen member having openings therein of transverse dimensions substantially thereover and continually to pass some of them by gravity lengthwise into said openings so that straight elements among them will be delivered through said openings while bent elements among them become hung in said openings and are carried by said screen member away from the zone of delivery of said straight elements.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, said screen member comprising a hollow rotary drum having said openings formed in its peripheral wall and having an opening in an end thereof for the delivering of said stream thereinto.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, and means extending into said drum and disposed below an upper portion of the orbit of and spaced inwardly from said peripheral wall to collect and carry away the bent elements falling from said wall it is rotated through said upper portion.

8. A splint-handling apparatus for a match-making machine including means for aligning the splints and means for sorting the splints, said sonting means comprising an elongated structure receiving said splints and guiding them there-along in a given direction, said structure including an elongated trough having a series of at least three separate slots longitudinally aligned in and along the bottom thereof, said slots each having a width exceeding that of said splints, said slots progressively increasing in length in said direction with the last of them having a length just less than half the length of a normal splint, and means for moving said splints along said trough so that said normal splints traverse the entire length of said trough and those of said splints which are shorter than said normal splints drop progressively through said slots substantially in the order of their atrival at slots having lengths of more than half the respective lengths of said shorter splints.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, said aligning means comprising a jolting conveyor constituting an aligning riflle for said splints and arranged to receive the splints delivered from said trough.

10. A splint handling apparatus for a match-making machine including means for aligning the splints and means for sorting the splints, said sorting means comprising an elongated structure for receiving said splints and for guiding them therealong in a given direction, said structure including a multiplicity of elongated troughs arranged in parallel and side by side relationsliip and each having a series of separate slots longitudinally aligned in and along the bottom thereof, said slots each having a width exceeding that of said splints, said sl'ots progressively increasing in length rinsaid direction and the last slot in each trough having a length just less than half the length of a normal splint, and means for moving said elements along said troughs so that said normal splints traverse the entire length of said troughs and those of said splints which are shorter than said normal splints drop progressively through said slots substantially in the order of their arrival at slots having lengths of more than half the respective lengths of said shorter splints, a hollow rotary drum for supplying said splints to said structure, said drum being adapted to receive a stream of said splints of random forms comprising straight splints and bent splints and having openings in its peripheral wall of a size suflicient to allow said straight splints to pass lengthwise therethrough but restricted so that said bent splints will not pass therethrough but will hang on said wall, said drum having an opening in one end thereof for the delivery of said stream there-into, and means extending into said drum and disposed below an upper portion of the orbit of said peripheral wall to collect and carry away the bent splints falling from said wall as it is rotated through said upper portion, said aligning means comprising a jolting conveyor constituting an aligning riflie for said splints and arranged to receive the said normal splints delivered from said troughs, and a splint magazine for receiving said normal splints and delivering them into the matchmaking machine, said jolting conveyor having at one end thereof downwardly directed means for delivering said splints into said magazine.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein a separating wedge is substantially horizontally disposed adjacent and above the delivery end of the said jolting conveyor, said wedge extending from a point forward of, to a point behind the said delivering means in position to guide splints into the said delivering means and to divert excess splints into a separate path for removal from said jolting conveyor.

:12. An apparatus for screening match splints prior to their delivery to a match making machine comprising a hollow rotary drum having an aperture in an end thereof and receiving through said aperture a stream of said splints of random forms comprising straight splints and bent splints the peripheral wall of said drum having openings therein the transverse dimensions of which are substantially greater than the width but substantially less than the lengths of said splints so that said straight splints may pass lengthwise therethrough and yet said bent splints will not pass therethrough but will be caught in said opening and carried upwardly by said wall as the drum is rotated, means for rotating said drum to tumble the splints therein and thus continually to pass some of them by gravity lengthwiseinto said openings so that straight splints among them will be delivered through said openings While bent splints among them become hung in said openings and are carried upwardly by said wall away from the zone of delivery of said straight splints, and means extending into said drum and disposed below an upper portion of the orbit of and spaced inwardly from said peripheral wall to collect and carry away the bent splints falling from said wall as it is rotated through said upper portion. 13. The apparatus of claim 12, said openings being defined by wallsurfaces of a length in the direction normal to said peripheral wall so related to said transverse dimensions that said straight splints and portions of said bent splints which pass into said openings will be held by said surfaces in upended positions from which straight splints will fall through said openings as said peripheral wall is rotated through a lower portion of its orbit and in which bent splints are carried upwardly to fall from said openings onto said collecting means as said peripheral wall is rotated through said upper portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 6,882 Miller Jan. 25, \1876 207,178 Heald Aug. 20, 1878 1,630,366 Wildllaber May 31, 1927 2,278,544 Gaskill Apr. 7, 1942 2,309,471 Moore Jan. 26, 1943 2,501,403 McKinsey Mar. 21, 1950 2,549,316 Kremer Apr. :17, 1951 2,649,224 'Bardet Aug. 18, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 850,571 Germany Sept. 25, 1952 ,02 ,117 Germany Mar. 27, 1958 

10. A SPLINT HANDLING APPARATUS FOR A MATCH-MAKING MACHINE INCLUDING MEANS FOR ALIGNING THE SPLINTS AND MEANS FOR SORTING THE SPLINTS, SAID SORTING MEANS COMPRISING AN ELONGATED STRUCTURE FOR RECEIVING SAID SPLINTS AND FOR GUIDING THEM THEREALONG IN A GIVEN DIRECTION, SAID STRUCTURE INCLUDING A MULTIPLICITY OF ELONGATED TROUGHS ARRANGED IN PARALLEL AND SIDE BY SIDE RELATIONSHIP AND EACH HAVING A SERIES OF SEPARATE SLOTS LONGITUDINALLY ALIGNED IN AND ALONG THE BOTTOM THEREOF, SAID SLOTS EACH HAVING A WIDTH EXCEEDING THAT OF SAID SPLINTS, SAID SLOTS PROGRESSIVELY INCREASING IN LENGTH IN SAID DIRECTION AND THE LAST SLOT IN EACH THROUGH HAVING A LENGTH JUST LESS THAN HALF THE LENGTH OF A NORMAL SPLINT, AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID ELEMENTS ALONG SAID TROUGHS SO THAT SAID NORMAL SPLINTS TRAVERSE THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF SAID TROUGHS AND THOSE OF SAID SPLINTS WHICH ARE SHORTER THAN SAID NORMAL SPLINTS DROP PROGRESSIVELY THROUGH SAID SLOTS SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE ORDER OF THEIR ARRIVAL AT SLOTS HAVING LENGTHS OF MORE THAN HALF THE RESPECTIVE LENGTHS OF SAID SHORTER SPLINTS, A HOLLOW ROTARY DRUM FOR SUPPLYING SAID SPLINTS TO SAID STRUCTURE, SAID DRUM BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A STREAM OF SAID SPLINTS OF RANDOM FORMS COMPRISING STRAIGHT SPLINTS AND BENT SPLINTS AND HAVING OPENINGS IN ITS PERIPHERAL WALL OF A SIZE SUFFICIENT TO ALLOW SAID STRAIGHT SPLINTS TO PASS LENGTHWISE THERETHROUGH BUT RESTRICTED SO THAT SAID BENT SPLINTS WILL NOT PASS THERETHROUGH BUT WILL HANG ON SAID WALL, SAID DRUM HAVING AN OPENING IN ONE END THEREOF FOR THE DELIVERY OF SAID STREAM THEREINTO, AND MEANS EXTENDING INTO SAID DRUM AND DISPOSED BELOW AN UPPER PORTION OF THE ORBIT OF SAID PERIPHERAL WALL TO COLLECT AND CARRY AWAY THE BENT SPLINTS FALLING FROM SAID WALL AS IT IS ROTATED THROUGH SAID UPPER PORTION, SAID ALIGNING MEANS COMPRISING A JOLTING CONVERYOR CONSTITUTING AN ALIGNING RIFFLE FOR SAID SPLINTS AND ARRANGED TO RECEIVE THE SAID NORMAL SPLINTS DELIVERED FROM SAID TROUGHS, AND A SPLINT MAGAZINE FOR RECEIVING SAID NORMAL SPLINTS AND DELIVERING THEM INTO THE MATCHMAKING MACHINE, SAID JOLTING CONVEYOR HAVING AT ONE END THEREOF DOWNWARDLY DIRECTED MEANS FOR DELIVERING SAID SPLINTS INTO SAID MAGAZINE. 